Page 71 of A Game as Old as Time

“Thanks for sticking by me, G. I know I haven’t been the best teammate or friend---”

“Look.” Gunner stopped. “There is no playbook for this. For what happened, for what’s going on.” Ty’s eyes hit the floor. “I have no idea what I’m doing, but I know as long as I have you guys, my teammates, my brothers, I know we’ll figure it out.”

His best friend slowly raised his eyes to him and grinned.

“And Hailey.” The name froze Gunner. “I see it, G. The way you look at her.”

What!?

Gunner could feel his face getting red, and he immediately started for the exit.

“I…don’t know what you’re talking about.” He tried to move faster, but Ty grabbed his shoulders.

“Why don’t you just ask her out, G?” The words sounded so simple and easy.

He had thought about it. In fact, he had thought about it every night since he met her, but asking Hailey on a date could put the play and his relationship with his coach in jeopardy. He knew his reputation around school, and he had heard the rumors that were already going around about the two of them. The thought of the embarrassment Hailey must be feeling was making his chest tight again, and he had to flex his hands just to get a good breath.

She doesn’t need me.

She needed friends, not some monster like Gunner trying to fulfill a stupid teenage crush. Plus, she had made it very clear that night in the auditorium that she would never be able to trust him.

“I can’t,” he finally mumbled. “You don’t understand. She has been through so much, and her family…I just can’t do that to them right now, Ty.”

The hallway was silent for a moment.

“Well, look at this.” Ty laughed. “My boy finally took the plunge.”

No way!

“Ty, that is not---"

“Look, G,” Ty interrupted as they pushed out the door. “Maybe the old Gunner wasn’t right for someone like Hailey. I mean, look dude, she’s different.”

So different.

“But you’re not the same guy either, trust me. The old G would have just given up on this game and went back to Charlotte or some other cheerleader who was ready to jump into your car.”

Gunner’s skin crawled at the thought of Charlotte in his car.

“But this Gunner…” Ty leaned back against his car. “This Gunner has already put her first, above himself. G, I think you already know what that means.”

Shit.

Gunner’s throat was dry, and he was unable to swallow. He did know what that meant, and he now knew what had been frightening him most of all. He had never felt this way about any girl before, and, of course, he had to pick Hailey as the one.

I am an idiot.

“I screwed up as a best friend once, G.” Ty opened the car door and allowed Gunner to slide in. “But I’m not going to do it again. I got the perfect idea. You just let Tyquan Carter handle it, and you just be Gunner Weston. The new and improved Gunner Weston.”

New and improved?

“Where are we going?”

Ty jumped into the driver’s seat.

“We’re going to make a pit stop before Tony D’s. Trust me.” He flashed his patent smile. “I got this.”

Gunner’s mind raced as he thought back over their conversation and what Ty was going to do next.

---